We love to talk about what we love.
Maybe it’s a great movie you’ve seen, a restaurant you’ve gone to, or a vacation you’ve gone on. One thing I’m sure about is that if you loved it, you will likely talk to your friends about it.
In a nutshell, that’s evangelism. It’s not memorizing a ton of information or forcing yourself on others, it’s telling those around you about a unique Someone that you love and who loves you. Over the years, as a church planter and someone who longs to be used to help others come to Christ or help others share about Christ, I’ve developed something that I’ve found helpful and encourages me to share the gospel more and more. It consists of three words: Connection, Curiosity, and Story.
First, connection. A significant priority in evangelism is that you yourself are connecting with God through faith as you worship, read Scripture, and pray. The importance of the following reality cannot be overstated: one of the most crucial aspects to winsomely sharing your faith is to be personally growing in your faith. If you are genuinely tasting and seeing God’s goodness and faithfulness to you, it’s hard to keep it to yourself! Thus, as a consequence, you want to connect with others. Here it’s important to consider your natural spheres of influence like your family, your neighborhood, the schools your kids go to, and the places you might play sports. All of these and more are great places to connect with others. For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. It’s also true that God so loved your neighborhood, your school, your workplace that he sent you there to be a light and connect with others that they might be reconciled to God.
Second, curiosity. So much of traditional evangelism is training you to do most of the talking. However, many effective evangelists, including my own anecdotal experience, have taught me that listening well and asking good questions often leads to more opportunities to share about Jesus. After all, asking questions was the strategic mode-of-operation for Jesus’ own ministry. We’re curious about their life story, what they love to do in their spare time, or what their dreams in life are. A great gift to give anyone is simply asking, “Will you tell me more about that?” Most will happily oblige! Next, you can raise curiosity in them by living a life of genuine sacrifice and love and by being honest and transparent about your own weaknesses and struggles. Being curious about them and raising curiosity in them is a wonderful way to begin to take steps in sharing the gospel with others.
Third, story. As you listen to the details of their lives, you begin to see how the capital ‘S’ Story of the Gospel might connect to the lower case ‘s’ story of their lives. There are moments in their lives and themes to their stories that can be open doors to discuss various ways the gospel can make a connection to their hearts. You can also learn how to briefly share your own story about how God brought you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, about how the Good Shepherd found you and laid down his life for you.
Of course, there’s more to be said. Many don’t share their faith because they have an understanding of evangelism that isn’t natural to their personalities or it comes across as Bible-thumping. These three steps of connection, curiosity, and story can help you enter the process of walking into the story of another’s heart and seeing how the story of the gospel can change their lives forever.